Winners: COMPOSERS (vocal chamber music), 2019-20

The American Prize wishes everyone safety and health during this difficult time.
 

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, David (Volosin) Katz, chief judge, is honored to announce the winners, runners-up and honorable mention recipients of The American Prize in Composition, 2019-20, vocal chamber music division. Congratulations!

Complete listings of finalists and semi-finalists in The American Prize competitions may be found elsewhere on this blog. Please use the chronological tool in the right-hand column to find specific results.

QUICKNOTES: Although The American Prize does not usually provide written evaluations to semi-finalists, some semi-finalist composers will receive in their certificate packets short comments, suggestions or overall impressions made during the judging. We hope they will prove valuable. All finalists receive written evaluations from a member of The American Prize judging panel.

COVID EXTENSION: Because of the current national and international situation, many rules have been changed and requirements eased to make it easier to apply for The American Prize 2020-21. In addition, application deadlines have been extended. We will accept applications from COMPOSERS, CLASSICAL VOCALISTS, PIANISTS, CHAMBER ENSEMBLES and INSTRUMENTAL SOLOISTS postmarked or emailed by Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Applications from CONDUCTORS, STAGE DIRECTORS, CONDUCTED ENSEMBLES, ARTS ADMINISTRATORS (arts marketing, arts education) and in the performance of American Music (BACON AWARD) will be accepted until Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Further extensions may be granted pending the most current information about the virus. Visit theamericanprize.org for complete contest information. 

Please make us aware of any misprints: theamericanprize@gmail.com


The American Prize in Composition—(vocal chamber music) professional division, 2019-20

The American Prize winner:
William Vollinger  
Woodcliff Lake       NJ       
The Child in the Hole

William Vollinger  

William Vollinger’s music is described as “3D: different, direct and deep.” His music has been published by Abingdon, API, Heritage, Kjos, Lawson-Gould, and Laurendale. Five works were editor's choices in the J.W. Pepper Catalogue. Recent premieres included Jackson State Symphony, San Francisco Choral Artists, Ridgewood Concert Band, Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony, Garden State Philharmonic, Classic V Winds, and Colts Neck Community Band.. Several of his works have been nominated for or given awards by the American Prize. SDG!


2nd Place:
Ehood Gershuni 
Boston  MA        
The Spring and The Fall

Ehood Gershuni 

Udi Gershuni was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. He played Piano from the age of 6 focusing on classical and jazz music. Udi studied at Thelma Yellin high school of arts when he received the Excellence "Keren Sharet" scholarship from the "American-Israel culture fund" for a jazz Pianist. He served as music director at the Air-force military band while continue working on several professional musical theatre productions and TV shows such as X-Factor Israel and Israeli Idol. In December 19 he worked as Music Director of the Bat – Yam Musical Theatre Festival’s opening night. After receiving a full scholarship to study in Berklee, Udi moved to Boston where he studied conducting, composition, musical theatre and film scoring. In October 2018 Udi won the MTNA classical composition contest at the Massachusetts state level and in February 2019 he got the Merit Award from Tribeca national competition.  


3rd Place:
Ralf Yusuf Gawlick  
Newton  MA       
Herzliche Grüsse Bruno~Briefe aus Stalingrad 

Ralf Yusuf Gawlick  

Ralf Yusuf Gawlick, of Romani-Kurdish descent, was born in Germany in 1969. His works include solo, chamber, orchestral and choral music, traversing a wide range of styles and often exploring aspects of his complex international heritage. His music (www.ralfgawlick.com) has been commissioned and championed by a wide range of artists and organizations, attracting international acclaim from audiences and critics. In recent years his eight-voice Missa Gentis Humanæ, song cycle Kollwitz-Konnex and the autobiographical string quartet Imagined Memories have exemplified his diverse output, with its frequent references to the highlights of the Western musical canon and rigorous compositional standards. His music, published by several firms, has been performed internationally (in venues including Vienna’s Musikverein, New York’s Carnegie Hall) and is recorded on the Musica Omnia label in composer-supervised performances by the works’ dedicatees. A professor at Boston College, Ralf Gawlick lives in Newton, MA, with his wife and fellow musician, Basia.


The American Prize in Composition—(vocal chamber music) student division, 2019-20

The American Prize winner:
Theophilus Chandler 
Hillsborough  NC       
Two Taylor Songs 

Theophilus Chandler 

Theo Chandler is a Houston-based composer, currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. Chandler is the recipient of the Charles Ives Scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Letters, the Graduate Music Award from the Presser Foundation, and a Morton Gould Award from ASCAP. He has been a fellow at Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Mizzou International Composers Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Copland House CULTIVATE, and Aspen Music Festival. He has been the Young Artist Composer for Da Camera, Emerging Composer Fellow for Musiqa, Composer in Residence for Les Délices, Composer in Residence for the Maryland Wind Festival, and the Young Composer in Residence for Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings. Chandler has received commissions from the New York Youth Symphony First Music Program and Tanglewood Music Center. He received his previous degrees from The Juilliard School and Oberlin Conservatory.


2nd Place:
Martin Hebel   
Hamden  CT      
Dulce et Decorum Est

Martin Hebel    

Martin Hebel composes expressive, emotionally direct music for a wide variety of ensembles.
  
In his orchestral compositions, Martin explores strategies for engaging new audiences, seeking to enrich and enhance concert experiences for contemporary listeners, combining varied traditional symphonic forms with his contemporary harmonic language.

Martin Hebel’s Symphony No.3 in E Minor: Concert in Three Acts, second place winner of the 2019 American Prize and National Finalist in the 2015 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, was recorded by Mikel Toms and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and released internationally in August 2016 by ABLAZE Records. 

Born in Hamden, Connecticut in 1990, Martin Hebel received his M.M. in composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2018 where he studied with Douglas Knehans and Ellen Ruth Harrison. He graduated with honors from the University of Connecticut in 2015, where he studied composition with Dr. Kenneth Fuchs.

3rd Place (there was a tie):
Hans Bridger Heruth  
Liberty   MO        
How do I love thee?  

Hans Bridger Heruth   

HANS BRIDGER HERUTH (b. 1997) is an award-winning composer whose music has been praised as “lovely and delicate” (The American Prize) and for having an “invigorating richness” (KC Metropolis). In addition, he is a conductor, pianist, singer, and violinist of distinction, pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Composition at the University of Missouri. As a composer, his works have been performed by many different ensembles, most notably the KC Vitas Chamber Choir, the Show-Me Opera Program, and Deviant Septet. His chamber opera, “A Certain Madness”, was premiered with great acclaim and to sold out houses – based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective, critics raved “Sherlock Holmes has never sounded so good” (KBIA). His current projects include a new work entitled “Wytchkraft” for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gemma New. Heruth has studied composition with Stefan Freund, Ian David Coleman, Paul Seitz, and W. Thomas McKenney.


3rd Place (there was a tie):
Patrick Andrew Thompson
Jersey City          NJ      
Night, Sleep, and the Stars

Patrick Andrew Thompson 

Patrick Andrew Thompson (patrickandrewthompson.com) is a composer of dramatic musical narratives. Described as “a musician bursting with ideas,” (Atlanta Journal Constitution) he strives to carefully craft works of great emotional breadth and immediacy, marked by colorful, poignant harmonies, rich textures, and constant evolution.

His pieces have been performed and read by a wide range of ensembles including So Percussion, the Dover Quartet, the College of New Jersey Wind Ensemble, the Peabody Modern Orchestra, and the Princeton University Orchestra. Current projects include a piece for the Beo string quartet and a solo marimba commission for Robert Rocheteau. He was a composition fellow at the Brevard Summer Institute in 2018.

Patrick currently studies with Kevin Puts while completing an MM in composition at the Peabody Institute.  He has an AB in Mathematics from Princeton University, where he also studied composition and orchestration with Paul Lansky and Steven Mackey.

Honorable Mention—Career Encouragement Citation:
Daniel Whitworth  
Highland Park        IL       
Not Our Kids: A Fox News Operetta

Daniel Whitworth  

Daniel Whitworth (b. 1996) is a composer and saxophonist dedicated to expanding the relevancy and accessibility of contemporary music. Frequently collaborating with dancers, visual artists, and actors, he aims to connect and engage with audiences in unique ways. In the summer of 2019, Daniel served as the composer-in-residence at the Lake George Music Festival after his piece Ripples in Infinity won the Lake George Composition Competition.  Other recent awards include being selected in the 2019 Verdant Vibes and 2019 What Is Noise Call for Scores and winning first prize in both the 2018 Frost International Composition Competition and the 2018 Wisconsin Alliance for Composers Composition Contest. Daniel is working towards a master’s degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University with a major in both Composition and Scoring for Visual Media. Please visit DanielWhitworthMusic.com for more information on Daniel's recent projects and compositions!



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Congratulations!